5 Salt and Pepper Fried Fish

In the evening, Pan Yueyi’s parents came to visit the elderly couple as well. They arrived late, and dinner was already prepared. The family of three sat at the dining table, picking at their food with hesitation.

The grandparents had both cooked, and the dishes on the table felt like two extremes.

Because she still had a good impression of the tomato sauce from lunch, Pan Yueyi first picked up a piece of scrambled egg with tomato. She froze as soon as it hit her tongue.

The dish was a perfect restoration of the ingredients' raw state. The tomatoes lacked any real tomato flavor; they were thick, dry chunks that were somehow mushy at the same time. The eggs carried a faint, fishy scent—not particularly overwhelming, still within a normal range—but because everything else was so bland, this became the most prominent note of the dish.

Pan Yueyi’s pause caught her grandmother’s attention. "Is it not to your liking?" she asked with concern. "You young people love flavorful food, just like your grandfather. I'll just add more soy sauce next time."

Pan Yueyi forced a smile. "No, it's just that I feel like tomatoes these days don't taste as good as they used to."

That remark opened the floodgates.

The grandfather shared the sentiment deeply and gave a heavy huff. "The tomatoes from the past were delicious! Ever since these new varieties appeared—thick like rubber balls and refusing to rot even if you drop them—the market has been flooded with them. You can’t find the good-tasting varieties anymore. Who wants to eat these flavorless things? They don't even have any juice when you cut them open. People are getting richer, but the food is getting worse. Where is the logic in that?"

Pan Yueyi’s mother chimed in, "When I was a kid, Mom would often bring home a huge bag of tomatoes from the farmers. They were sweet and tart, and if you bit a small hole, the juice would splash all over my face. I’d eat three or four of them as snacks before they could even be cooked!"

Pan Yueyi said with a secret smile, "I actually had some delicious tomatoes at the school cafeteria today. They were incredible. I ate nearly two bowls of rice."

Her mother glanced at her in surprise, her hands moving busily. While her parents were busy condemning the tomatoes on the market, she manually mixed the salty and bland dishes together, signaling for her husband and daughter to start eating.

"What were these two plates for again?" The grandmother, snapping back to reality, looked at the two rapidly emptied plates in confusion. "You’ve finished them all? Let me go get you more."

"No, no, that's okay," the three of them hurried to stop her. "I ate too much at lunch; I'm full now."

"I have a badminton game with a friend; I can't exercise on a full stomach."

"I'm full too."

They all had their reasons and put down their bowls and chopsticks in unison.

***

After leaving the grandparents' house, Pan Yueyi’s mother patted her half-hungry stomach and nudged her daughter with her elbow.

"Yueyue, are you full? Is the restaurant you went to for lunch nearby?"

Pan Yueyi gave a dry laugh. "What? I ate at the school cafeteria at noon."

"Nonsense." Her mother gave her a look that said she saw right through her. "Since when does your cafeteria have good tomatoes?"

Helpless, Pan Yueyi had to come clean and admit she had eaten at a restaurant nearby.

She had been holding back for a long time, and now she couldn't help but gush, "That tomato-sauce salted egg yolk tofu is seriously amazing. The sauce, made from stewed tomatoes, is sweet and tart, and the egg yolk is sandy and rich, coating every bit of the tofu..."

Hearing this, her parents became even more interested.

"Let's go!"

"Nanlai Restaurant, this is it."

Seeing the name, Pan Yueyi’s mother felt a strange sense of familiarity, but she brushed it off immediately; it must be a common name.

The three of them walked into the restaurant together.

***

With the warning from their daughter, her parents merely raised their eyebrows at the rather expensive prices on the menu, saying nothing.

"One order of tomato-sauce salted egg yolk tofu," her mother said, wanting to taste the delicacy her daughter had raved about. Then, as if remembering something, she turned to her daughter. "Wait, you just had this at lunch. Do you want to order something else?"

"No, no," Pan Yueyi waved her hands like windshield wipers. "I still want to eat it. I could definitely eat it again." Her tone was firm; it was clearly the truth.

As the menu passed to her father, he ordered an additional dish of salt and pepper fried fish chunks.

Since they had already eaten a little for dinner, they only ordered two dishes to avoid waste.

A few more guests arrived, and seeing that the only person busy back and forth was a young woman, her father couldn't help but peek toward the kitchen to see if the chef was already cooking.

Pan Yueyi told them that the restaurant belonged to the pretty young lady, and she was the one cooking the food, too.

"You mean she’s the server, the chef, and the owner?" her father was shocked.

His expression became complex. It wasn't unusual for a new business to struggle to make ends meet, but one should still be willing to pay for help. Doing every menial task alone didn't make the business look like it would last long.

The salted egg yolk thing sounded like an internet trend, and as he sat there, his suspicions grew. He felt this was likely an "internet-famous" shop preparing to make a quick buck and vanish.

He had seen plenty of restaurants like this: pump a lot of money into marketing to attract young people, create an illusion of long lines and popularity, then wait for the buzz to die down, close up shop, and move on to the next trend.

But this little restaurant felt different. Her father thought that if she wasn't even willing to hire a server, she probably wouldn't have spent money on marketing, either.

No wonder it wasn't popular.

He tentatively suggested, "I know a restaurant with good food on our way home. How about..."

Pan Yueyi complained, "We’ve already ordered! Dad, are you trying to dine and dash?"

"Nonsense, I've already paid."

"Then just sit and wait." Her mother glared at him, the warning in her eyes unmistakable. Her father received the signal and finally sat down obediently.

The salt and pepper fish chunks were served quickly.

For a moment, no one spoke. They just stared at the golden fish chunks resting on the pristine white porcelain plate.

The evenly sized fish chunks were fried to a slight crisp, as if wearing a thin layer of golden armor. A rich aroma—a perfect fusion of the freshness of the fish and the fragrance of the salt and pepper—wafted over, irresistible and overwhelming.

The three of them reached for their chopsticks at the same time.

One bite, and the crispy exterior exploded in the mouth, followed by the soft, snow-white fish meat. Although it had been fried, it wasn't dry or tough; it remained fresh and juicy. Even the thickest part of the fish wasn't bland at all—the savory salt and pepper seasoning had already permeated through, with a hint of perfectly balanced spicy heat stimulating the taste buds.

The fresh bass, slaughtered that morning, weighed no more than 750 grams each—the perfect size for the firmest, freshest meat. After several hours of marinating, the salt and pepper flavor was locked into every fiber of the fish. Fried until golden and slightly charred on both sides, the preparation was simple, yet the taste was truly enticing.

All three of them were busy chewing and could only exchange urgent comments between bites.

Pan Yueyi was like a happy little pig, mumbling while chewing, "So good, so good. The tofu is good, and this is good too. I'm coming back next time."

Her father wondered, "The salt and pepper flavor in this dish is so rich and fragrant, yet it doesn't look like they used much. I wonder why."

Her mother took another piece, enjoying the delicate crunch as her teeth pressed through the crispy shell.

"They run a restaurant, of course they have their own secret methods."

***

That was true. While using pre-made salt and pepper powder from the market could save a lot of work when making such dishes, the flavor would never be outstanding.

Because the salt and pepper fish required almost no other seasoning, relying entirely on the flavor of the spice mix, Nan Tu never took shortcuts here. Beyond selecting high-quality Sichuan peppercorns, she would roast the peppercorns and salt in a perfect ratio until the fragrance became incredibly potent—as if a whirlwind were sweeping out of that tiny frying pan—before grinding it into fresh powder.

Having spent her life in kitchens, Nan Tu knew well that peppercorns lose their fragrance easily; only fresh grinding could maintain the maximum flavor.

Less than five minutes later, when Nan Tu brought out the tomato-sauce salted egg yolk tofu, only a clean white plate remained on the table.

"Your dishes are all served." She swept a questioning glance over the guests... Right? With so few tables, she shouldn't have served the wrong one.

Her father feigned composure and took a sip of water. "Yes, all served."

Seeing that Nan Tu wasn't as busy, he offered a bit of advice disguised as a suggestion: "Young lady, your cooking is truly excellent. I was worried you couldn't handle a whole restaurant when we first arrived, but I see now that I was short-sighted. However—"

"Even if you’re capable, you shouldn't be doing everything yourself, right?"

Nan Tu had already been advised by more than one guest to hire a server.

She answered smoothly, "You're right, I'm already looking for someone."

Not really.

She had indeed posted a help-wanted ad. Business was mediocre, and the compensation Nan Tu could offer was, at best, ordinary. A few people had applied, but during those days, the restaurant was even quieter, unlike now, where she was finally seeing a few repeat customers. The applicants, seeing that the place didn't look like it would last long, found excuses to slip away.

Once the Plane Restaurant System appeared, Nan Tu quickly tore down the ad.

How could she dare hire staff in this situation? How could she explain the strange guests who might appear through the back door?

Nan Tu was truly troubled. Not hiring staff wasn't realistic, but hiring them wasn't appropriate either. She had even asked the system for help, but it only expressed regret, saying it couldn't assist.

While it could connect planes, it couldn't conjure people out of thin air. Was it supposed to kidnap someone from another dimension to work for Nan Tu?

Nan Tu walked away, full of worries.

Her father put down his cup, jolted, and hurriedly picked up his chopsticks to join the battle for the tofu. He hadn't even tasted the newly served dish, and there were only a few pieces left!

Her mother not only grabbed several pieces of tofu but also picked up the plate to pour the remaining sauce into her bowl. "The sauce alone is delicious over rice, let alone with the tofu. Yueyue is really good at picking restaurants. I had no idea there was such a good place near your grandfather's house."

Pan Yueyi boasted proudly, "Of course! I knew right away that this restaurant was special!"

...Exceptional for having so few customers, that is.

But Pan Yueyi was quite certain that this situation wouldn't last much longer.

In the end, the three of them finished both dishes completely. The plates were as clean as if they had been wiped, not at all like people who had already eaten two dinners.

The three of them walked out slowly, patting their full stomachs.